Empty book

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Empty books or blank books are novelty books whose title indicates that they treat some serious subject, but whose pages have been left intentionally blank. The joke is that "nothing" is the answer to whatever the title of the book asserts.

Contents

A number of such titles have been published as attempts at satire or polemic, to some commercial success. In 2017, The Guardian commented that the trend of publishing political empty books had led to "the noble art of political parody [descending] into a one-joke turn that avoids words". [1]

List of empty books

The 32 blank pages of the Political Achievements of the Earl of Dalkeith have been digitised by the LSE Library. Political Achievements of the Earl of Dalkeith.jpg
The 32 blank pages of the Political Achievements of the Earl of Dalkeith have been digitised by the LSE Library.

This list includes, in order of publication, empty books that have been published with an ISBN or have received coverage in reliable sources unrelated to the author. The books may have book design features such as front matter, a table of contents, page numbers, etc., as long as the pages are otherwise blank.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 Kean, Danuta (18 April 2017). "Empty satire: the regrettable rise of blank-paged books in the Trump era". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  2. "Political Achievements of the Earl of Dalkeith, Carefully Compiled from Trustworthy Sources", LSE Selected Pamphlets, 1880, JSTOR   60214093
  3. "Livro: O Que Se Pode Fazer Sexualmente Após 80 Anos - Max Sussol". Estante Virtual (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  4. "What Every Man Thinks About Apart From Sex: book of blank pages become surprise bestseller". The Daily Telegraph . 3 March 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  5. "Everything Men Know About Women book has only blank pages" . Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  6. Pappas, Alex (20 December 2011). "This Guy Published A Book Of 200 Blank Pages: 'Everything Obama Knows About The Economy'". Business Insider . Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  7. "Meet the Man Who Sold Hundreds of Thousands of Books With Blank Pages in Them". Observer. 20 April 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  8. Wheaton, Oliver (12 January 2015). "Ukip supporters want this satirical book about Nigel Farage banned". Metro . Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  9. Hanrahan, Kieran (16 December 2016). "Cylvia Hayes' New Book On Trump Is A Page-Turner". OPB News. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  10. Greene, Leonard (1 February 2017). "New book on reasons to trust Trump made of blank pages". New York Daily News . Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  11. "Empty Book on Palestinian History Becomes Instant Best-seller on Amazon". Haaretz . 22 June 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  12. "The Achievements of Kamala Harris Paperback – September 29, 2024". 29 September 2024. Retrieved 3 November 2024.